With World War I entering its third year, a controversial U.S. military expedition against Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa brings the neutral United States closer to war itself, when Mexican government troops attack U.S. Brigadier General John J. Pershing's force at Carrizal, Mexico, on June 21, 1916.

In 1914, following the resignation of Mexican leader Victoriano Huerta, Pancho Villa and his former revolutionary ally Venustiano Carranza battled each other in a struggle for succession. By the end of 1915, Villa had been driven north into the mountains, and the U.S. government recognized General Carranza as the president of Mexico.

In January 1916, to protest President Woodrow Wilson's support for Carranza, Villa executed 16 U.S. citizens at Santa Isabel in northern Mexico. Then, on March 9, he ordered a raid on the border town of Columbus, New Mexico, in which 17 Americans were killed and the center of town was burned. Cavalry from the nearby U.S. Army outpost Camp Furlong pursued the Mexicans, killing several dozen rebels on U.S. soil and in Mexico before turning back. On March 16, under orders from President Wilson, U.S. Brigadier General John J. Pershing launched a punitive expedition into Mexico to capture or kill Villa and disperse his rebels. The expedition eventually involved some 10,000 U.S. troops and personnel. It was the first U.S. military operation to employ mechanized vehicles, including automobiles and airplanes.

For 11 months, Pershing failed to capture the elusive revolutionary, who was aided by his intimate knowledge of the terrain of northern Mexico and his popular support from the people there. Meanwhile, resentment over the U.S. intrusion into Mexican territory led to a diplomatic crisis with Carranza’s government in Mexico City. On June 21, 1916, the crisis escalated into violence when Mexican government troops attacked a detachment of the U.S. 10th Cavalry at Carrizal. The Americans suffered 22 casualties, and more than 30 Mexicans were killed.

The U.S. Army’s actions in Mexico led Germany’s foreign minister, Arthur Zimmermann, to think Mexico might welcome further opportunities to take up arms against its powerful neighbor. In January 1917, Zimmermann sent a telegram to the German ambassador to Mexico proposing a Mexican-German alliance in the case of war between the United States and Germany and promising Mexico financial support and territory—including Texas, New Mexico and Arizona—in return for its support.

In late January 1917, with President Wilson under pressure from the Mexican government and more concerned with the war overseas than with bringing Villa to justice, the Americans were ordered home. The Zimmermann Telegram, intercepted and decoded by British intelligence, reached the U.S. government in February; Wilson authorized the State Department to publish it in early March. Americans were outraged, and public sentiment began to turn irrevocably against Germany. The U.S. formally entered World War I on the side of the Allies on April 6, 1917.

Pancho Villa continued his guerrilla activities in northern Mexico until Adolfo de la Huerta took over the government and drafted a reformist constitution. Villa entered into an amicable agreement with Huerta and agreed to retire from politics. In 1920, the government pardoned Villa; three years later, he was assassinated at his ranch in Parral by an unknown assailant.

21 June 1915 - At Helles, French forces launched an attack on the Turks at Haricot Redoubt and Kereves Dere. The French, for little progress, suffered more than 2,500 casualties and the Turks lost more than 6,000 killed and wounded.

'During the night a heavy artillery action which has continued off and on during the day has been in progress down at Helles. The enemy snipers* who have been enfilading Brighton beach with rifle fire have been very active lately and have succeeded in wounding half a dozen during the last few days. The range at which they have to fire makes accurate shooting impossible, but never the less they manage to bag an occasional victim and make the beach unsafe while they are at it. At about 4pm a monitor put in an appearance and shelled the enemy on Kaba Tepe at the same time. Received a couple of letters today.’

*Turkish snipers were trained to attack officers over the rest of the men.

Treport.June 21st. I returned to Abbeville from leave - June 15th & found orders awaiting me to
proceed forthwith to No 3 Gen. Hosp.
They seemed a sad little group at Sick Sisters & the Home - & I was sorry to leave them. There
was very little work being done - & why they don’t close both places remains a mystery. I did
not proceed at once. I wanted a few hours to say Goodbye & collect my odds & ends. So -
postponed the procedure to next morning.
Major Jolley of the R.A.F. very kindly lent a tender to take me - instead of going by train - & we
made a good spin of it round by Dieppe etc - a good day & I enjoyed the trip, but not the
arriving at a fresh hospital. There is nothing I hate much more than that - The hospital is
splendid - partly in a huge hotel perched on the top of a high cliff - In a way it reminds me of
when we (No 3. C.C.S.) were in the International Lunatic Asylum at Bailleul.
I arrived in time for second lunch 1 p.m. & after that, not being wanted for duty - made myself
scarce in my room for the rest of the day - picking my trunk lock - & sawing off the padlock of
my kit bag - as I had by accident left my keys either in Leeds or Burnsall - or Abbeville or at
the Gibbs.
I have a ward of 60 beds - in the big building - acute medical & surgical - At present there are
only 40 patients in it - but some of them are pretty bad. It felt a little strange at first being
back to large numbers, big wounds - the smells of g.g. (gas gangrene) & pus - & antiseptics -
but my nose is getting used to them now. One poor fellow died a few hours after admission - &
another two are I am afraid following him - One badly gassed - & the other was in the C.C.S.
suffering from Trench fever - when it was bombed. He has lost an arm - & one foot is useless. I
am afraid he will not get over it. [Entry added later:] * Dec 17th he did get over it & is now on
his way home to Australia.
Every day I have been for a long & lonely walk - A big mess is a rare place for making one feel
desperately alone - but as I enjoy my own company all is well.
Yesterday & today have been very stormy & I can hardly see the vessels at anchor for the
storm of mist or spray over the sea. Fourteen small steamers came in to anchor this evening. It
is rather a pathetic sight - I think they all anchor near some one else - & I suppose it is that
there shall be some one to rescue the other - if the other gets hit.
Up on this cliff there are 4 or 5 hospitals & no other camps within about 2 miles - but we know
the Bosche so well now - that every hut is being sandbagged as a protection in time of air raid -
I have been down into the town once- rather a “dirty little place” was my impression. There is a
funicular railway down the cliff - or if you like to walk - you can do so, down 365 steps - I
chose the steps, as there were people I had never set eyes on at the railway - Sisters! terrifying
people! The M.O. of my ward is a Yankee. Young & quite amenable & conscientious. No 2
Canadian, had a convoy in today & I think we take the next.
The last one we had was chiefly wounded - & many badly wounded.
There is a concert on tonight, but as you see I am not there.
Now as day light is fading I think I will turn in.

The men initially reported to their respective Company Armories, with Sgt. Sam Avery reporting to the Somerville Armory which housed Companies K and M. Within a week, the Eighth Regiment had filled many of the existing vacancies in the ranks with new recruits who had been volunteering in droves since the public announcement of the mobilization. On June 21, orders were received to entrain for the State Camp at Framingham and the entire 8th Regiment assembled at the Cambridge Armory in preparation for deployment. At 11:00 AM on June 21, the Eighth marched from the Cambridge Armory through Boston where it entrained for Framingham amid crowds of well-wishers and patriotic band music. The 8th Regiment detrained at Framingham at 4:00 PM and marched a mile to the muster-field where it joined the 9th and 5th Regiments and formed a Brigade encampment consisting of pyramidal tents with 20 men crowded into each (although the regulation capacity was 8). The Regiments were positioned along one wide, common Regimental “street” with the individual company streets extending perpendicularly from it. The 2nd Regiment was also mustered at Framingham in a separate corner of the field.

“Avoid the Use of the Word Intervention”: Wilson and Lansing on the U.S. Invasion of Mexico

In 1916, Francisco Villa, leader of the peasant uprisings in northern Mexico, raided Columbus, New Mexico, in an attempt to expose Mexican government collaboration with the United States. President Woodrow Wilson responded by ordering an invasion of Mexico. Five years after the beginning of the Mexican Revolution, which was characterized by hope for social change as well as death, hunger, and violence, many Mexicans did not welcome further involvement by the U.S. In the following correspondence, Secretary of State Robert Lansing and President Wilson described the need to carefully frame the invasion as a defense of U.S. borders rather than interference in the Mexican Revolution. The resulting invasion, led by General John Pershing, was a total fiasco. It failed to locate Villa and increased anti-U.S. sentiment and Mexican nationalist resolve.

From Robert Lansing, with Enclosure

Personal and Confidential:

Washington June 21, 1916.

My dear Mr. President:

As there appears to be an increasing probability that the Mexican situation may develop into a state of war I desire to make a suggestion for your consideration. It seems to me that we should avoid the use of the word “Intervention” and deny that any invasion of Mexico is for the sake of intervention.

There are several reasons why this appears to me expedient:

First. We have all along denied any purpose to interfere in the internal affairs of Mexico and the St. Louis platform declares against it. Intervention conveys the idea of such interference.

Second. Intervention would be humiliating to many Mexicans whose pride and sense of national honor would not resent severe terms of peace in case of being defeated in a war.

Third. American intervention in Mexico is extremely distasteful to all Latin America and might have a very bad effect upon our Pan-American program.

Fourth. Intervention, which suggests a definite purpose to “clean up” the country, would bind us to certain accomplishments which circumstances might make extremely difficult or inadvisable, and, on the other hand, it would impose conditions which might be found to be serious restraints upon us as the situation develops.

Fifth. Intervention also implies that the war would be made primarily in the interest of the Mexican people, while the fact is it would be a war forced on us by the Mexican Government, and, if we term it intervention, we will have considerable difficulty in explaining why we had not intervened before but waited until attacked.

It seems to me that the real attitude is that the de facto Government having attacked our forces engaged in a rightful enterprise or invaded our borders (as the case may be) we had no recourse but to defend ourselves and to do so it has become necessary to prevent future attacks by forcing the Mexican Government to perform its obligations. That is, it is simply a state of international war without purpose on our part other than to end the conditions which menace our national peace and the safety of our citizens, and that it is not intervention with all that that word implies.

I offer the foregoing suggestion, because I feel that we should have constantly in view the attitude we intend to take if worse comes to worse, so that we may regulate our present policy and future correspondence with Mexico and other American Republics with that attitude.

In case this suggestion meets with your approval I further suggest that we send to each diplomatic representative of a Latin American Republic in Washington a communication stating briefly our attitude and denying any intention to intervene. I enclose a draft of such a note. If this is to be done at all, it seems to me that it should be done at once, otherwise we will lose the chief benefit, namely, a right understanding by Latin America at the very outset.

Faithfully yours, Robert Lansing

TLS (SDR, RG 59, 812.00/l8533A, DNA).

Enclosure

*************************************

Sir:

June 21, 1916.

I enclose for your information a copy of this Government’s note of June 20th to the Secretary of Foreign Relations of the de facto Government of Mexico on the subject of the presence ofAmerican troops in Mexican territory. This communication states clearly the critical relations existing between this Government and the de facto Government of Mexico and the causes which have led up to the present situation.

Should this situation eventuate into hostilities, which this Government would deeply regret and will use every honorable effort to avoid, I take this opportunity to inform you that this Government would have for its object not intervention in Mexican affairs, with all the regrettable consequences which might result from such a policy, but the defense of American territory from further invasion by bands of armed Mexicans, protection of American citizens and property along the boundary from outrages committed by such bandits, and the prevention of future depredations, by force of arms against the marauders infesting this region and against a Government which is encouraging and aiding them in their activities. Hostilities, in short, would be simply a state of international war without purpose on the part of the United States other than to end the conditions which menace our national peace and the safety of our citizens.

T MS (SDR, RG 59, 8I2.00/I8533A, DNA).

*************************************

To Robert Lansing

The White House. 21 June, 1916.

My dear Mr. Secretary,

I agree to all of this. I was myself about to say something to you to the same effect, though I had not thought of making an occasion of the sending of copies of our note to Mexico to the Latin American representatives but had thought to wait until hostilities were actually forced upon us. As I write this “extras” of the evening paper are being cried on the Avenue which, if true, mean that hostilities have begun. At any rate, my doubt upon that point (the time for the notification you suggest) is so slight that I beg that you will carry out the plan you suggest at once.

... Our mail is one of our greatest joys while at war and John’s was fine. I was cleaning my rifle to be turned in when I got the letter, was preparing for my transfer then. Am in a building now down by the depot waiting for my turn out. Have been transferred to the “Signal Corps” go to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Do field work in AM and study books in PM This work consists of telegraphy, motorcycle dispatching and field signals with flags. 18 of our company were chosen for this work I think I will like it fine, it will cause some hard study and maybe some extra brain matter but I think the class of work is much easier than the infantry. I do not know whether I can get off to come thru Peoria or not……..I may need a few things a little later on but at the present I am quite well fixed. The razor strap was and is a very handy article, I use it every day. We have to carry all of our belongings around with us in our barracks bag so the less we have the better it is. It weighs about 75 pounds now……..Negros have been coming in all day long, making room for 23,000 of the devils. They sure make tough, hard soldiers and fighters......

According to the terms of the armistice, Germany was obliged to hand over and surrender all her U-boats and about 74 surface warships whose ultimate fate would be determined later on. On 19 November 1918 the German naval force set sail for the Firth of Forth where the British would check that the disarmament was complete before moving the ships to other ports to be interned. A German torpedo-boat strayed off course and was sunk by a mine.

The German fleet arrived at the Firth of Forth on the morning of 21 November and were met by an Allied force of about 250 ships under Admiral Beatty. At 3.57 p.m. the German flag was ordered to be hauled down and the ships were inspected by the British to see if disarmament was complete. From the 22-26 November the British moved the German ships in groups to Scapa Flow, where they all arrived by 27 November.

By mid December the 20,000 crew who had sailed the ships to Scapa Flow were reduced to a caretaker crew of about 4,800 men and officers. In June 1919 the crews were reduced to Royal Navy caretaker levels of about 1,700 men.

During this time peace talks had been dragging on, with several extensions to the armistice. The Allies were divided over the fate of the ships with many countries wanting a share, while the British as the key naval power at the time were less keen to boost the strength of rival navies (American and French in particular). The final version of the Treaty of Versailles involved the surrender of the interned ships.

Meanwhile the German commander, Ludwig von Reuter, was fearful that the British would suddenly and without warning seize his ships and therefore began to take preparations to scuttle the fleet. On the morning of 21 June the British battleships at Scapa Flow left for exercises. Admiral Reuter chose this moment to start the scuttling of his interned vessels.

At 10.30 AM he signalled the fleet "Paragraph eleven. Confirm." - which was the code for immediate scuttle. Although the British battlefleet returned full speed they were only able to rescue the battleship Baden and three cruisers. In the confusion nine German sailors were shot dead, they could be considered to be the last kills of WWI.

Over 400,000 tons of warships were sunk. Officially the British were outraged but in private there was a sense of relief that the problem of what to do with the interned fleet was now solved.

This way "rival" fleets would not be able to get their hands n these modern ships.

Considerable efforts were made by British Intelligence to prove that the scuttling had been ordered by the government in Berlin but they never found any proof.

... is a series of events that took place a hundred years ago as described by those involved. It is composed only of diaries, letters, memoirs, newspapers and other documents.

21 June 1917 - Alexander Zamaraev

The Russian Army, it transpired, was one of the very worst. Entire divisions are refusing to engage. It is shameful, before our allies and before those who have already given up their lives. It seems the current army is in no condition to do anything of good; it is just of a horde of mouths to be fed. They lap up the dangerous words of some so-called Lenin and his accomplices.

21 June 1917
French troops on the Western Front recover nearly all ground lost near Vauxaillon and advance near Mont Cornillet
Allied forces repulse a German attack on the Teton in Champagne
Sailors of the Black Sea Fleet stationed at Sevastopol Naval Base mutiny. They claim that naval officers are planning a counter-revolution and demand that they be disarmed

Commons Sitting of 21 June 1917Colonel LESLIE WILSON asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether he is aware that German officers who are interned as prisoners of war at Holyport, near Maidenhead, appear in the field adjoining their huts when they are insufficiently clothed; and whether, taking into consideration the fact that these fields are in view from the adjoining roads, he will take immediate steps to put a stop to this conduct, which is resented by the residents of the neighbour hood and the many visitors who use these roads?
Mr. HOPE I am informed that orders have been issued that the officer prisoners of war are to be properly clothed when outside their quarters.

Lieutenant Colonel William Ambrose Short CMG (Royal Field Artillery) is killed. He is the son of the Reverend A Short.
Chaplain Cecil Herbert Schooling MC dies of wounds received the previous day at Poperinghe at age 32. He is the son of the Reverend Frederick Schooling.
Lieutenant Colonel Utten Lamont Hooke (commanding 3rd/4th West Surrey Regiment) is killed at age 26.
Second Lieutenant James Taylor Greer Pickop (Royal Fusiliers) dies of wounds at home at age 25. He is the son of the Reverend Canon Pickop who will lose another son in October 1918.
Second Lieutenant George Rudolph De Salis (Middlesex Regiment) is killed in action at age 19. His older brother died at home in October 1915 also age 19 and they are sons of ‘Sir’ Cecil Fane De Salis JP DL KCB High Sherriff of Middlesex.
Rifleman Jesse Thomas Glenister (Irish Rifles) is killed in action at the Battles of Messines at age 19. His brother will be killed in November.
Private James McNeece (Otago Regiment) dies of wounds received in action at age 34. He is the third member of the 1913 and 1914 All Blacks Rugby Football Club to be killed during the Battle of Messines over a two week period.
Private George Southcott (Devonshire Regiment) is killed at age 34. His son will lose his life serving in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve.

Heavey rain till 8 am + drizzly showers rest of day. Drove Geoge down to 11 train as he has to go to Palmerston to go before the Military Medical Board. Fencing at Cheslyn Rise in pm + milked the cows. Read "The Mystery of Dr Fu-manchu" by Sax Rohmer.

650 letters written by one family during the First World War,
each one published 100 years after it was written.

21 June 1917 – Richard to Gertrude

Dear Mother,

Many thanks for your letter from Totland Bay. I hope the clothes’ll come soon. We’ve managed to get a Gramaphone after all & the records are awfully good. Fancy getting a leaf out of the Garden of Eden, and fancy having a son in command of a Regt. I expect it’s a relief to Ted, to have DB [Col Drake-Brockman] ]out of his way for a bit.

J.B is up to time nowadays. Those raids were alarming. I do hope they don’t try Guildford again. More clothes lumbering home me dear! Huge parcel but undo it & get out that German Hospital placard, rather interesting.

I do hope Ted sticks to the Command, but I doubt it, his being only a Capt, yet quite capable.

Dreda tells me she is going on the land after all. How will she like it in the winter.

Such a hailstorm yesterday. We’ve tried the eggs. Jolly good & Topher has also made some cherry jam, most awfully good. Another paper for Kirwan to sign, the other are lost!

I’m told I’m getting fatter. I heard from Mr Gosse. Topher is a great fisherman with Gosse’s reel.

Best love to all

Send some more books during the next week or two. I’ll want them, also some lemonade powder

I have been trying to get a letter off to you for ages now- but have never succeeded somehow- but I am going to settle down to it now. It was damned good of you to send me that cable – in fact I was more pleased with that than anything else- really – ‘cos the amount of bluddy boofaced pessimists there were knocking about after our stunt simply made me sick. God! they were awful. You know what the B.P. are & the damn press criticising the various officers an all. What the hell does a bloke fugging in an office know about tactics & things like that – yet they sit down & write a lot of bosh which of course is read by the B.P. I’ll just give you an extract from the Aberdeen Free Press-

– owing to the undoubted crushing defeat which the Navy has suffered off the coast of Jutland – our faith in the British Navy – “as the sure shield and defence of our Empire”- has been shattered once & for all to dust and ashes-

Can you imagine anyone writing like that. This fellow as a matter of fact was arrested shortly afterwards- but let off- I should have tortured him.

Daily News. – Defeat in the Jutland engagement must be admitted——But in face of yesterday’s news the demand for the return of Lord Fisher to effective control of the Navy must again become insistent-

The only paper who really did well was the Morning Post- which I am sending to you- priceless it was- especially the leading articles. S’matter of fact they were hard to buy during the day which is something in the BP’s favour- I am also sending you some other papers- & enclosed is off the back of the Daily Mail. Just like those bluddy Yanks.

About the action. Somehow when we were out units like myself had no idea the Huns were out at all – thought it was an ordinary “strafe” as we call it- we were doing what is known as a “dummy run” on our own Battle Cruisers- you know just training & laying the gun etc- when I suddenly saw them open fire & then splashes falling round them-

Coo! I said – we’re off- and in the next five minutes my turret was firing on the Huns. It put the fear of God into you at first to see these bluddy great shells falling all around- & the light was so bad for us- you could only see them very indistinctly- but still we all blazed away merrily & one could see hits on them now and again- The bluddy awful sight was seeing our ships going up & steaming over the place about 5 mins afterwards- & seeing “nothing”- but after bits of wreckage and a man or two- poor devils –

We were well in the thick of it for about 2 or 2½ hours & giving just as much as we took – and we were at a devil of a disadvantage on account of the light. Then the Hun B.C’s took us into the High Sea Fleet [ie the German Fleet] & then there was trouble- but then shooting got frightfully erratic & they must have wasted 1000’s of rounds – there was a bluddy tornado of splashes all round us.

I should think at least 5 or 6 Huns were concentrating- still we were’nt hit more than 8 times- of course all this time no Jellicoe as yet- until I had it passed through to my turret- “The Grand Fleet [ie the British Fleet] is deploying into action”- God- you can imagine the relief!- The most priceless sight I’ve ever seen- then they opened fire- only for about 20 mins though- & the Huns got cold feet- then firing went to Hell & they turned & off out of it- with the whole of us after ’em.

Then it became mistier and dark- time about 11 p.m- & I never want to go through a night like that again. The most ghastly scene, you can imagine those destroyer attacks- our destroyers on their fleet; but it was so damn hard to tell what was happening- except you could see these frightful flashes & noise going on & then a whole ship go -.

They were bluddy fine our TBD’s that night- we did’nt fire at all. It is not a thing that is encouraged- i.e. big ship actions at night- the reason being obvious- and next morning we somehow lost touch with them- they had gone in – because they had’nt very far to go- and naturally they know where their minefields are more accurately than we do- so we steamed up and down over the scene of action for about 7 or 8 hours- but nothing more was seen- I dare’nt tell you any details- because I am certain they will all be censored- but I can tell you it’s practically certain that we got 5 of their capital ships- i.e. 3 battleships & 2 B.C’s – at least ½ a dozen light cruisers – & they have’nt many of them either & 20 Destroyers. Then there are several who must be badly damaged – we could see that for ourselves.

The great thing seems to be that the Huns obviously get cold feet when they are fired at- or else they had no ammuunition left- & they don’t seem to have the guts either- And- the opinion seems to be that they could come out again in a hurry- I don’t think they expected anything that time – but they were caught.

Of course I’ve lost heaps of pals – but that’s how they say they all wanted to die- so-! It was a nasty jar about K- [Kitchener, who drowned a few days after the battle when his ship sank off Orkney] & of course there are heaps of rumours about spies etc. but I think that’s impossible- besides it was much too rough for a submarine- even her destroyer escort had to go back on account of the weather. That little fellow Stewart who was in the Gloucester with me was in the Hampshire- he was the navigator.

Comic things happened when the sailors of different ships went on leave after the action. In several places they got boo-ed and at a certain place the soldiers turned their backs on them- in fact there were damn near some riots- and it is supposed to be a fact and I quite believe it- that two men- the pink-faced pessimist type – have been killed by bluejackets ashore – just taken aside & flopped out. When we went on leave on the following Monday- there were boofaces down to about Edinburgh – & then things began to liven up a bit. It’s awfully hard to say whether Balfour was right in publishing what he did so early – but then until Jellicoe had seen everybody – Destroyer Captains etc – he could’nt possibly tell how many had gone- & then the B.P. are always asking for the Truth about our losses- & they were told straight out. The Huns were bluddy marvellous- they had our losses – naming the ships too in their papers on Thursday evening. God knows how they knew – They had the Warspite wrong though.

Well they gave us some leave. I got 4 whole days at home – too damn short really- but I managed to see most people I think, making Jane’s shop & the Club my HQ’s. I went home on the Monday night to dinner & went to town next day till Thursday night. I saw all the 5 super-priceless sisters- & on Thursday night we had the usual family party at a Box – Mr Manhattan this time – 5 sisters- Tim- myself- James- Chubbie & Sheina Nellie – of whom you have doubtless heard. The missing link was Nancy, & no one can make out why she was not there. I lived at the rate of about £2000 a year during that time and Stilwell had to come up to the scratch again- which he did very nobly- but I find it damn hard to save any money you know. I do save some- but then I blow it and more during any leave I get. Naturally I have nothing to show for it – but I would’nt stint myself for the world- taking any of those sisters out anywhere & giving them a good time- & Chubbie & the like. I met heaps of pals too- survivors from various ships- whose yarns are most interesting.

Everyone at home was awfully fit & well- & it was marvellous how they all gathered together from their different jobs. Jane & Chubbie are doing damn well at that shop- & it is a topping little place & a regular rendez-vous for the Wouff Wouffs- It seemed to be packed all the time I was on leave, & they both enjoy themselves thoroughly- going out to dinner & dances an’ all. Jim was very fit too – & very keen to get out to France- he seems to be fed up with this knocking about at home doing nothing – so I should imagine. Mother was as young as ever and working as hard as ever. You might just notice a few more grey hairs – but nothing else. & of “mud” there was none.

I should have liked to have seen Nell but I had’nt a chance. We had a slight F.F some time back – correspondence F.F. and an exchange of photographs. That is a topping one of her- the side face one. She also wrote to me after the stunt too. ‘Corse I had masses of letters- but have managed to square ’em all off now- thank goodness-

A damn good stunt the other day- H.M. suddenly blew up north and came aboard us to inspect the damage an’ all. We being the first ship to which he came – so naturally he was more interested- absolutely informal, no blazing of bugles or anything- just a good look round. ½ our ship’s company were on leave too- so they never saw him. He shook hands with us all & spoke a few kind words- then we yanked him into the Ward Room & he signed the mess photograph- quickly taken out of its frame for the purpose. ‘Corse we are fearfully proud of ourselves- particularly as being the first ship for him to see after the action. We got knocked about a bit you know.

Drew is up here fairly close – and we have been interdining a good deal lately- He asked after you & sent his Chinchins next time I wrote – so here they are. I am having quite a good time where we are now. There are some damn fine tennis courts here presented to the Fleet by Lady Jellicoe’s father- old Cayzer – & I play there most days. One Hillyard of tennis fame- is a Lt-Comdr stationed here & I somehow get mixed up in setts with him- Coo!- but it’s encouraging. Then there are several people whom I have known knocking around – chiefly N.O’s wives- and one gets asked out to dinner etc. What sort of time are you having at Lansdowne- rather dull I should imagine- what are the prospects? I thought I should have seen Topher when I was on leave- but his leave seems to be so inconsistent- he keeps saying different dates. Dreda has got a bumper purse for him when he gets back so he ought to thoroughly enjoy himself.

Well I must go and have a drink after this epistle – cheerioh cockie and damn good luck to you.

21 June 1918 - No doubt the viper is useful to the farmer, but it is also a danger to his children, his dogs, and even his sheep

Amongst the heather stems and grass I found the cast skins or sloughs of two harmless ring snakes. They were not lying on the grass, but were firmly jammed between the stiff bents; indeed, it was not possible to release them without injury, though as they lay there each transparent scale showed distinctly; except at the head, the skin was perfect. “Cast” skin sounds as if the reptile, weary of its old and dingy garment, had thrown it off as we throw off our clothes. Really it had struggled through the tightest squeezes it could find, emerging finally in bright and gleaming mail, leaving behind the discarded slough, like a long, empty glove-finger.

The only viper I saw was in its skin, and very much alive. It hissed and savagely struck my stick as I held it, hesitating what to do. No doubt the viper is useful, destroying field-voles and wood-mice, foes of the farmer; but it is also a danger to the farmer’s children, his dogs, and even his sheep. My wife, as jury, refused a verdict, and no pleaders for or against or witnesses being available I acted as judge and decided its fate. In the end it died by accident for when jerking it to a convenient spot it fell some six feet upon the rocks below, and, rather to my surprise, that settled the matter. A single slight tap with my stick ended its convulsive struggles.

Tom was born 1890 and was one of at least seven children of John and Elizabeth Britton. At the time of the 1901 Census, the family was living in Greenfield Place, Rathmines, and by 1911 he was living in a boarding house in Francis Street, Dublin.

Sometime after this he emigrated to Australia and was working as a farm hand when on 24 February, 1916, he joined the Australian Army at West Maitland, NSW. He was posted to the 34th Battalion and was one of the first reinforcements to land in France, arriving on 21 November, 1916, by which time he was promoted to Corporal. He was wounded twice in two days when taking part in some small skirmishes against German positions, on the 24th February, 1917; he was wounded slightly but was discharged from the field ambulance that day. The next day, he was wounded again, only this time more seriously, and he was sent to hospital where he remained until the 2nd March, 1917.

At the end of May – beginning of June 1917, he was sent to an Officer training camp at Oxford, and didn’t return to the battalion until mid-December, thereby missing the battalion’s first major operation at the battle of Messines and also the horrendous battle of Passchendaele.

In the spring of 1918, the Germans launched their final push to try and break the Allies lines. The 34th was subsequently deployed near and around Villers-Bretonnuex (VB) to defend the approach to Amiens. Tom took part in the counter-attack at Hangard Wood on 30 March and assisted in the defeat of a major German attack on VB on April 4th.

It was during this period that Tom was awarded the Military Cross.

For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty in leading his platoon in an attack in the face of heavy machine-gun and rifle fire. He inflicted many casualties on the enemy and captured two machine guns. Later he organised a party, and, in face of heavy fire, brought in all dead and wounded. By his splendid example of courage he helped to carry the assault to a successful issue.

Unfortunately, on 2 June Tom was walking with two American officers along the reserve system of trenches in the vicinity of the Villiers switch, when he was hit in the ankle with fragments of a 5.9 ground shrapnel. He was taken first to the Dressing Station (11 Field Ambulance) and then on to the 5 Casualty Clearing Station and finally to the 8 General Hospital at Rouen, where septicaemia set in and he passed away on 21 June.

He was buried the following day in the St. Sever Cemetery, Rouen.

As well as the Military Cross, he was also entitled to the British War & Victory Medals.

208/200012 Transport Sergeant Arthur Oldknow 1/5th Battalion was killed on this day

“The transport had very uncomfortable journeys in this sector, especially when passing Fosse Cite de Loos. On 21st June 1917, the whole column was wiped out by shell fire – All the animals were killed, the wagons wrecked, rations and ammunition strewn around. This necessitated the turning out of a fresh column & rations, and, as was invariably the case, they got through eventually. Unfortunately Sgt. Oldknow was killed by the first shell that dropped. He was a transport section in himself, one of those who not only did things, but got things done….”

21 June 1917; Thursday - Up at 6.45. Kept busy all day. A lot of staff officers and a few generals down at our place investigating who captured a certain objective – 25 or 36 Division. My night off. Went to Pierrots1 with Harry Bascombe and Whittaker. Whittaker lost his cap under the platform and a French lady found it for him. Pretty fair show. A big row in the town between Home and Australian troops. Tried to buy rosary for a man in my ward but couldn’t get a decent one.

• In total 13 former All Blacks lost their lives during World War I.
Albert Downing was the first All Black killed, at Gallipoli on
8 August 1915, followed the next day by Henry Dewar. Five were killed in
France (Frank Wilson 19 September 1916, buried near Albert;
Bobby Black, 21 September 1916, near Longueval, no known grave;
Ernie Dodd 11 September 1918, Metz-en-Couture; Alexander Ridland,
5 November 1918, Cambrai; and Hubert Turtill 9 April 1918 Festubert,
near Bethune). Eric Harper died in Palestine on 30 April 1918 and has no
known grave.

• Five All Blacks were killed in Flanders, or were wounded there and
subsequently died in France. They were Jim Baird, wounded at Messines
who died in France on 7 June 1917; George Sellars, died 7 June 1917,
Messines, no known grave; Reg Taylor, died Messines 20 June 1917,
buried Underhill farm; James McNeece 21 June 1917, wounded at
Messines, buried Rouen; David Gallaher, fatally wounded at
‘s Graventafel, died that day 4 October 1917. Thus the final resting place
of three — Sellars, Taylor and Gallaher — is Flanders.

• David Gallaher was five years old when his family moved from Belfast to
the Bay of Plenty. He always claimed to be three years younger than he
really was and when he enlisted to fight in the Boer war in 1901 he gave
his age as 24 instead of 27. His gravestone at Nine Elms British
Cemetery gives his age as 41 whereas he was actually nearly 44. (Just
as there were very young victims of the war, a surprising number of
New Zealand soldiers were in their thirties or forties and one, buried at
Messines, was in his fifties.)

• Captain of the highly successful 1905 All Blacks (the “originals”), Gallaher
married in 1906 and had a daughter (Nora) in 1908. After his younger
brother, Douglas, was killed in France in June 1916 he decided to enlist
again. He became a sergeant with the 2nd Auckland Regiment on
1 June 1917 and was wounded in the face on 4 October. He died the
same day at a field hospital in Poperinghe. In addition to Douglas,
another brother of Gallaher’s, Henry, was killed on 24 April 1918. Both
brothers were serving with Australian forces. Five Gallaher brothers
served in the army: only two survived.

• A number of Maori All Blacks also served overseas. Amongst them was
Charles Rangiwawahia Sciascia the “Maori/Italian” who was killed on
1 August 1917 and whose memorial in the Belgian town of Comines-
Warneton was dedicated this year.

Herbert Gooch - better known as "Tim" - was born near Tamworth in New South Wales around 1875.
As a child he and his sister, Bertha, were taken by their parents to live in Brisbane after they gave up
their station in the Upper Hunter district. Tim had a normal schooling in Brisbane and went on to
work variously as draughtsman and sketch artist. He also gained fame as a cartoonist and caricaturist
for newspapers and other publications.
Gooch served in the Boer War, leaving Australia in March 1901 with the 5th Queensland Imperial
Bushmen Contingent. After the war he returned to Toowong in Queensland. He enlisted again
shortly after the outbreak of the First World War, changing his age from 39 down to 32 in order to
be more likely to gain admission to the Australian Imperial Force.
He was accepted and was initially posted to the 3rd Field Company Engineers. However, after a short
time in training he was considered unsuitable for the role, and was discharged as "unlikely to
become an efficient sapper". Weeks later he enlisted again, but this time was posted to the Light
Horse, which suited him better. He sailed for Egypt in October 1914 with reinforcements to the 7th
Light Horse Regiment.
On 20 May 1915 Tim Gooch was reported to have deserted from the force in Cairo. In fact, he had
made his way independently to the Gallipoli peninsula, apparently not getting there soon enough
through official channels for his liking. He arrived on 31 May 1915 and reported for duty to the
regiment's headquarters on 1 June 1915.
The 7th Light Horse, although at that time predominantly involved in defence of the line, were still
operating under very dangerous conditions. In those early days men were killed by snipers, stray
bullets, shell-fire, and even over-zealous sentries. Three weeks after he reported for duty with his
regiment, Gooch was seriously wounded by a gunshot to the neck. He was evacuated to the hospital
ship Gascon, but died of his wounds and was buried at sea three miles off Gaba Tepe. He was forty
years old.

15-21 June 1915: Deaths of Council Staff and a Putney Teacher Joins UpWandsworth 1914-1918 - Commemorating the First World War as it happened in the borough of Wandsworth

The meeting of Wandsworth Borough Council on the evening of 16th June had to deal with what course of action to take in the event of staff being killed whilst on active service. Three deaths had been officially reported to them so far, these were listed as Private William George Daborn (2nd class clerk, Rating Department), Sergeant F Beard (store-keeper, Tooting Depot) and E Smith AB (road sweeper). Sergeant Frederick Beard was with the 24th County of London Regiment, Private Daborn with the 23rd County of London Regiment and E Smith was an Able Seaman. (...) The Council decided that on the notification of each death they would pass a resolution of Condolence to the families and appreciation of the service of the men. It was also decided that dependants of employees killed whilst on active service would continue to receive allowances from the Council for 26 weeks.

Advice received from the Local Government Board and discussed at the meeting was that the Council should avoid appointing new members of staff whilst the war was ongoing. Instead they should try to re-employ retired staff, or those who weren’t eligible to join the Army. The meeting noted that Wandsworth Council was already doing this, and further recommended that heads of departments should be given the authority to fill vacancies by hiring women. Concerns over how to fill vacancies presumably tied in to the fact that the Council was very much encouraging local recruitment, the battalion correspondence file contains a list – produced on 21st June – of staff in the Borough Engineer’s department who were apparently eligible for military service. One hundred members of staff were listed, with approximate age and how they were employed, with notes including whether or not they had already been rejected for military service or not (...)

Elsewhere in the borough, an entry in the school log book for Putney St Mary’s school on 15th June records that Frank Jefcoate, a student teacher who had been absent at teacher training college, would not be returning to school as he had recently gained a commission. Jefcoate later transferred to the Royal Air Force and was killed in a flying accident in Egypt in February 1919 (the log book also records this), having been mentioned in Dispatches and awarded an MBE.

HELLES - THE BATTLE OF KEREVES DERE - At Helles the generals and their men seemed to be locked together in a campaign without hope. Yet, as they still believed that a continuous pressure had to be maintained on the Turks, Hunter-Weston and the French commander General Henri Gouraud came up with an alternative to the discredited idea of a general advance.

It was decided to concentrate all possible artillery resources to support strictly localised attacks with the aim of biting off small chunks of the Turkish line and then using a wall of shells to assist the infantry in holding off the Turkish counter-attacks. The French were given the honour of trying out the new tactics. On 21 June they would launch a concentrated attack hammering into the Turkish lines between the Ravin de la Mort offshoot of Kereves Dere and the Haricot and Quadrilateral Redoubts that dominated the Kereves Spur. They would attack on a very narrow front of just 650 yards, but it contained three objectives of excessive difficulty in not only the Haricot and Quadrilateral Redoubts but also the trenches overlooking the Ravin de la Mort. The artillery support was crucial and centred on the deployment of seven batteries of French 75mm guns, two batteries of 155mm howitzers, trench mortars and seven British howitzers to shatter the Turkish defences. At the same time six more batteries of 75mm guns were assigned to fire into the rest of the Turkish lines facing the French to keep them busy, while other French long-range batteries accompanied by the pre-dreadnought Saint-Louis would be trying their best to suppress any interference from the Turkish guns on the Asiatic shore. In all it worked out at a gun or howitzer for every 10 yards of front to be assaulted. In the days leading up to the attack the level of French fire increased as they tried to smash down and blot out the Turkish trenches.

Second Lieutenant Raymond Weil of the 39th Régiment d'Artillerie was in a forward observation post.

"All along the French front the artillery raged. For our part we made our range corrections with a slow deliberation. Then we proceeded to methodically mop up every last fragment of the Turkish trenches which had to be completely destroyed. Each of our guns had its own pre-determined task, but in contrast to the last attack on 4 June, it was our Captain's orders which determined the changes in pace according to circumstances, rather than following a rigid plan laid out in advance."

The final bombardment opened at 05.15 and lasted for just 45 minutes. At 06.00 the 176th Regiment lunged for the redoubts, while to their right the 6th Colonial Regiment tried to clear the Ravin de la Mort. The French had plentiful ammunition and during the attack would expend over 30,000 shells crashing down on the narrow front during the battle. The attack went and the dreaded Haricot was swiftly over-run by the 176th Regiment, along with the Turkish second line, although the Quadrilateral behind it remained inviolable.

Corporal Charles Thierry of the 176th Regiment, 3rd Metropolitan Brigade had been engaged in digging a sap when at 15.00 he was sent forward with extra ammunition to the newly captured Turkish front line.

"The men go in threes: Legeay gets a shell fragment in the back, Legendre is wounded - many men fall! Our turn to go, a little shiver up the spine! I pass through a small communication trench, treading on the corpses of dismembered men, dry arms, one can no longer find anything human in these corpses. Only 25 metres across the open. At last I am in the first Turkish trench at the side of a wounded captain. We are subjected to a short bombardment. Surrounded by corpses we occupy the trench - I am almost alone in more than 100 metres of front, all the men are wounded. At every moment reinforcements are called for but none come; ammunition is also demanded but nothing comes. I attend to a wounded Turk in the trench. In gratitude he kisses my hand and lifts it twice to his forehead. I want him to write something in my pocket book but there is nothing to be done. The heavy shells from the Asian side rained down: Brumel is hit, Henriot as well. At about 6pm an intense and well-directed bombardment from their lines warns us of a counter-attack, besides the situation demands it. But we enfilade them and they retreat swiftly. It is a veritable manhunt with our bullets. We throw our kepis in the air with shouts of joy. The bombardment is terrible; the shrapnel rains down. I lie down in the trench a few moments later I am hit in the left hand. At last the bombardment stops."

Thierry was safely evacuated despite the close attentions of Turkish machine gun fire as he returned to the French lines. This time, aided by their massed artillery, the French threw back the Turkish counter-attacks and the Haricot was finally captured. The 6th Colonials were also successful in taking the Turkish front line but could get no further forward. The newly captured line had been severely damaged by the French bombardment and what was left was choked full of dead and dying Turks. There was little effective shelter and as Turkish fire lashed across the trenches the 6th Colonials commander, Colonel Noguès, was badly wounded. Confusion set in and by 07.00 the 6th Colonials had fallen back in disarray to their start line. At 14.15 they tried again with no success. A final attempt was made at 18.45 when the Regiment de Marche d'Afrique recaptured and this time held the line overlooking the Ravin de la Mort.

Background - The circumstances of this speech have been described bv B. S. Townroe in an article in the Kipling Journal, December 1946. Townroe, as assistant to Lord Derby in his recruiting campaign in Lancashire, suggested that they incite Kipling to address an open-air meeting to stimulate a “very sluggish” recruiting at Southport. To their surprise, Kipling at once accepted. The speech he made “through loud-speakers to thousands of people gathered together in Lord Street and the gardens below” was, according to Townroe, “the most powerful attack on German methods that had been made, and it was cabled to all parts of the world. It had an immense Press at the time”
Kipling himself said later that “1 tried once in a speech to point out that the German game was to bring the conquered to such a condition that they would not be able to look at each other afterwards: but that was too general to be understood”.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I am here to speak on behalf of a system in which I do not believe, and in which, I daresay, a good many of you do not believe either—the system of voluntary service. It seems to me unfair and unbusinesslike that after ten months of war we should still be compelled to raise men by the same methods as we raise money at a charity bazaar; but clumsy and unfair as that system is, it is the only one we have, and we must work it. (Hear, hear.) We committed ourselves to it in time of peace when we decided that we would not endure national service on any terms whatever. We chose it because it made us more comfortable and because it released us from obligations which might have cut into our pleasure, and our money. We believed that in the hour of danger there would always be enough men who would of their own free will defend their country. That belief was justified in the past. The mistake we have made—and it was not for lack of being warned—was that we did not conceive we should ever wage such a war as the war that we are waging now. The system by which we are meeting that war is grossly unfair, but since we chose it of deliberate intent, in the face of grave warnings, we cannot now that it is being tested, shelter ourselves behind its defects. (Hear, hear.)

How does the situation stand with regard to the recruiting to-day? There is, of course, a small and pernicious minority (incorrectly transcribed as 'majority' in spme printed versions) , which does not intend to inconvenience itself for anv consideration whatever, but I am convinced that the overwhelming number of men who have not yet come forward to enlist argue, “Why should I go when my neighbour stays behind? Make it fair all round, and I will go gladly.” That is a detail that should have been attended to in time of peace. It is too late; it is illogical to complain of it now. If it is changed, so much the better, hut meantime we must reap what we have sown. (Hear, hear.)

The German has spent quite as much energy in the last forty-five years preparing for war as we have in convincing ourselves that war should not be prepared for. He started this war with a magnificent equipment that gave him time and heavy taxation to get together. That equipment we have had to face for the last ten months. We have had to face more. The German went into this war with a mind which had been carefully trained out of the idea of every moral sense of obligation—private, public, and international. He does not recognise the existence of any law, least of all those to which he has subscribed to himself, in waging war against combatants or non-combatants, men, women, and children. He has done from his own point of view verv well indeed. All mankind bears witness to-day that there is no crime, no cruelty, no abomination that the mind of man can conceive which the German has not perpetrated, is not perpetrating, and will not perpetrate if he is allowed to go on. These horrors and perversions were not invented by him on the spur of the moment. They were arranged beforehand, their outlines are laid down in the German war-book. They are part of the system in which Germany has been scientifically educated. It is the essence of that system to make a hell of the countries where the German armies may set foot, that any terms Germany may offer will seem like heaven to the inhabitants whose bodies she has defiled and whose minds she has broken of set purpose and intention.

In the face of these facts, it would he folly for any fit man to talk for a minute of what he would do if our system of recruiting were changed, or to hang on, as some men hang on, in the hope of compulsion being introduced. We shall not be saved by argument. (Hear, hear.) We shall not be saved by hanging on to our private jobs and businesses. Our own strength and will alone can save us. If these fail, the alternative is robbery, rape of the women, and starvation as a prelude to slavery. Nor need we expect any miracle to save us. So long as an unbroken Germany exists, just so long life on this planet will be intolerable, not only for us and our Allies, but for all humanity. And humanity knows it.

At present six European nations are bearing the burden of the war. There is a fringe of shivering neutrals almost under the German guns who can look out of their front doors and see, as they were meant to see, what has been done to Belgium, the German-guaranteed neutral Belgium. But however the world pretends to divide itself, there are only two divisions in the world to-day—human beings and Germans. (Laughter and applause.) And the German knows it. Human beings have long ago sickened of him and everything connected with him, with all he does, says, thinks, or believes. From the ends of the earth human beings desire nothing more keenly than that this unclean monster should be thrust out from membership and the memory of the nations of the earth. (Applause.) The German's answer to the world's loathing is this. He says: "1 am strong. I kill. I purpose to go on killing by all means in my power till 1 have imposed my wall on all human beings.” lie gives no choice. He leaves no middle way. He had reduced civilisation and all that civilisation means to the simple question of kill or be killed. Up to the present, as far as we can find out, Germany has suffered three million casualties. She can endure another three millions, and, for aught we know, another three millions at the back of that. We have no reason to expect that she will break up suddenly and dramatically, as some people still believe. Why should she? She took two generations to prepare herself in every detail, and through every fibre of her national being for this war. She is playing for the highest stakes in the world—for the dominion of the world. It seems to me that she must either win or bleed to death almost where her lines run to-day. Therefore, we and our Allies must continue to pass our children through the fire to Moloch until Moloch perish, that, as I see it, is where we stand, and where Germany stands. (Applause.)

Turn your mind for a moment to the idea of a conquering Germany. You need not go far to see what it would mean for us. In Belgium at this hour, several million Belgians are making war material or fortification for their conquerors. They are given enough food to support life as the German thinks it ought to be supported. And, by the way, I believe the United States ol America supplies the greater part of that food. In return they are compelled to work at the point of the bayonet. If they object they are shot. Their factories, their public institutions, their private houses, have long ago been gutted, and everything in them that was useful or valuable has been packed up and sent into Germany They have no more property, and no more rights than cattle; and they dare not lift up a hand to protect the honour of their women folk. And less than a year ago they were among the most prosperous and the most civilised of the nations of the earth. There has been nothing like the horror of their fate in all history, and that system is in full working order within fifty miles of the English coast. (Hear, hear.) Where I live I can hear the guns that are trying to extend it. The same system as exists in Belgium, exists in such parts of France and Poland as are in German hands.

But whatever has been dealt out to Belgium, France, or Poland will be England’s fate ten-fold if we fail to subdue the Germans. (Applause.) That we shall be broken, that we shall he plundered, that we shall he enslaved will only be the first part of the matter. There are special reasons in the German mind why we should he morally and mentally shamed and dishonoured beyond any other people—why we should he degraded till those who survive can scarcely look each other in the face. Be perfectly sure that if Germany is victorious, even refinement of outrage which is in the compass of the German imagination wall be inflicted upon us in every aspect of our lives. Over and above all this, no pledge we can offer, no guarantee that we can give will he accepted by Germany as binding. Why, she has broken her own most solemn oaths and obligations, and by the very fact of her existence she is bound to trust nothing and to recognise nothing except immediate superior force hacked by illimitable cruelty. So you see there can be no terms. (Hear, hear.)

Realise, too, that if the Allies are beaten, there will be no spot on the globe where a soul can escape from the domination of this enemy of mankind. There has been childish talk that the Western hemisphere would always offer a refuge from oppression. Put that thought from your mind. If the Allies are beaten, Germany would not need to send a single battleship across the Atlantic. She would send an order, and it would be obeyed. Civilisation would be bankrupt, and the western world would he taken over with the rest of the wreckage bv Germany, the receiver. So you see there is no retreat possible. There are no terms, there is no retreat in this war. It must go forward, and with those men of England who are eligible for service, but who have not yet offered themselves, the decision of the war rests. (Loud applause.)

Let us look at a few figures. Like yourselves, I have no special information; but, as far as one can estimate, rather more than 2,000,000 men have joined the services up to date. This is an impressive record till you remember that the total population of these islands is about 45,000,000, so that the proportion works out at about 5 per cent, of the total population, and 10 per cent, of the total male population. We do not know how many soldiers we shall need to end this war, but we do know that we do not need 90 per cent of the total male population to make ammunition and carry on the ordinary business of the country. (Applause.) People who won't look facts in the face sometimes say, “What’s the sense of piling in men when you have not the arms and equipment for them?” The answer is perfectly simple. You can use equipment the minute you get it, hut you cannot use a man the minute you get him. (Applause.) He has to be trained. That is why the supply of men has always got to be months ahead of other supplies. And we need a steady, unbroken flow of young men—young and without domestic ties for choice—coming on and on into training. Once again I will admit as freely as anyone here the immense unfairness of our system oi recruiting, which has been well called quite rightly conscription by cajolery; but it is the system we have chosen, and till we have another we must work it. Those who believe in national service can take comfort from the thought that if the Government won't bring it in. they must be quicker than the Government—it is not difficult to be quicker than the Government—(laughter)—and bring themselves in. (Hear, hear.) Those who believe in the principles of voluntary service must now realize that now is the one time for them to show what an excellent system it is by voluntarily shouldering their obligations. (Applause.)

In the meantime, public opinion is hardening against the eligible men who have excuses which are not reasons for not enlisting. Public opinion is hardening against those parents, the wives, and the relatives of those men and employers of those men, who, directly or indirectly, are keeping these men back. You cannot expect people who have given or lost their own flesh and blood in this war to be patient or sympathetic with people whose husbands are untouched or unseparated. The feeling may or may not be reasonable, but it is one of the results of our system, and as more men join that feeling will increase. What’s the sense of waiting until it breaks bounds? No words can begin to do justice to the bravery and the devotion of those of our men who have already gone up against Germany. (Applause.)

They have dealt almost as a matter of routine, with battles, any one of which in the old days would have made the marvel and the glory of a generation. (Loud applause.) They have endured, as never troops were called upon to endure, the most amazing devices of war, and the unclean malice ol the enemy. They have shown themselves through all these things heroes without stain. (Loud applause.) The counties know, the big cities know, and the little villages where they mark the names on the church door know, what their neighbours and their kin have done. There is no part of the land to-day that has not its new pride and its new reverence in the achievements of our Armies, and no part of the land has a better right to this pride than Lancashire. (Applause.) But the need—the Empire's great need—is tor more men of the same mould. In the old days—days that seem now so small and so far off—the days when we dealt in words, there used to be a saving which ran: “What Lancashire thinks to-day, England will think to-morrow.” (Applause.) Let us change that saying for three years, or for the duration of the war, to “What Lancashire does to-day, England will do to-morrow.” (Loud applause.)